5/1/17

I think that the author’s purpose in In Cold Blood is to inform the reader about the changes that happened to Holcomb, Kansas (the Clutters’ former town) and the behavior of criminals. The book bounces between the members of the town and the series of events the killers took before and after the murders, which shows the motive behind the book.

The author’s purpose regarding Holcomb is to show how the town is affected and changed by the Clutters’ deaths. After Myrt, the town’s mail deliverer, spreads tales about the Clutters’ deaths, the town is ravaged with rumors and suspicion. “Many men converged on Hartman’s Cafe, where Bess Hartman realizes that the killer was probably someone she knows, someone from the town. Susan and Bobby Rupp are hysterical.” (Capote 80). This quote shows the distressed town and its members. Even the town members that weren’t particularly close to the Clutters were fearful and suspicious of their neighbors. The Clutters’ deaths destroyed the gentle equilibrium of the town and ruined the friendly relations between neighbors who once regarded each other as good friends.

The author’s purpose regarding the criminals and their behavior is to show the mindset and decisions that law-breakers make. Through the flashbacks and descriptions provided by the criminals themselves, Capote can show why and how the felons did what they did. This quote from the book shows Perry’s relatively regretful feelings about the crime: “Then Perry said, “Know what really bug me? About the other thing? It’s just I don’t believe it – that anyone can get away with a thing like that. Because I don’t see how it’s possible. To do what we did. And just one hundred percent get away with it. I mean, that’s what bugs me – I can’t get it out of my head that something’s got to happen.”” (Capote 109). Dick reacted differently to the aftermath of the scene. Capote writes, “a conversation that would displease Dick, and one that, for the matter, he himself would just as soon avoid. He agreed with Dick: Why go on talking about it?” This quote shows how Dick would refrain from ever speaking about what Perry and he had done, and that he believed if he did not think about it, his lingering feelings of guilt would go away.